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From real-life wars amongst ourselves to the war that we have waged on Mother Earth and Nature, we are often reminded of how humanity could be destroyed. The pertinent question must surely be: So how best can we protect our future, our survival?
With what is going on in the world today, nuclear war feels like a more realistic threat than for decades.-
Photo: Galerie Bilderwelt/Getty Images
We are only visitors, why are we then destroying and abusing everything in our path?
Could we really destroy all life on Earth?
Yes, indeed, as long as we remain focused on our selective humanity and values
‘War is the failure of humanity’
N.B. Similar to the great wise teacher, the man of peace and humanity, Dr. Martin Luther King, I, too, ‘refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.’
‘Every war is a failure—of leadership; common sense; “policy”; concepts of “manhood” or “courage”; of “loyalty” and “patriotism; of imagination.’- Pressenza, Peace and Nonviolence journalism
Let the horror in the Ukraine open our eyes to the suffering of war around the world
They are ‘civilised’ and ‘look like us’: the racist coverage of Ukraine
Afghanistan is on the brink of famine. How can Biden just forget about us?
…‘Millions of children are frightened and starving to death in Afghanistan because of sanctions imposed upon a new government. Millions are frightened and starving in Yemen, where western arms support allows Saudi Arabia to cripple food supplies. Children in Syria are frightened and hungry as the civil war drags on. Iraq is failing and the children suffer. In Africa, starvation and fear permeate the continent in places such as Nigeria, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan. And everywhere the faces of children are a fierce and damning testimony to adult behaviour…’-All wars horrify us, but it seems not equally so
I don't know who wrote this, but it's so meaningful...‘We fell asleep in one world, and woke up in another.’ That, sums up our journey.
‘War is the failure of humanity’
As I watch the terrifying and soul-destroying images of war in Ukraine, I am taken back to the dehumanising and horrifying images of the invasion of Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya-supported directly or indirectly- by NATO forces. The same NATO that today is seeking to save Ukraine!
They were, it seems, on a mission: To ‘Civilise’ the ‘Barbarians’, bringing them democracy and market economy, very similar to what they were doing in many ‘non-white’ regions of the world in past centuries! A practice that has so tragically remained their hallmark up to current times. Lest we forget.
I am recalling the images of the Iran-Iraq war, the eight-year war that nobody cared to end. They said it was a good way of recycling the petro-dollars. They kept selling arms to both of them!‘I am recalling the horrors of what is happening in Yemen, thanks to the abundant supply of weapons of mass destruction by many NATO countries to a few countries in the Persian Gulf, to recycle the petro-dollars again!
Still going back in history, I recall the horrors of slavery, the plundering and destruction of mother earth, and the dehumanisation of the indigenous people of North America, Australia and New Zealand, to name but a few, by Europeans who are today wishing to be the saviours!
We are also witnessing the destruction and degradation of our host, our home: Our Mother Earth and Nature, our only source of life, living and survival.
The Abuse and Destruction of Earth and Mother Nature is as Big a Threat to Humanity as Wars
Photo: Via change.org
Friends, our experience on Earth is brief, yet our presence here has an impact. Let’s vow to generate the energy of peace for ourselves and others around us. And at the same time, to support all who suffer from the ravages of war, regardless of their creed, colour or origin.
We must come together and tune into peace, love and wisdom with a spiritual revolution and save the web of life.
The time is now to begin and believe in ourselves, who we are, what we are. We must recognise that we have the real superpower in us to wage peace and usher in a new season of hope on Earth by sharing a common belief in the potential of each one of us to become self-directed, empowered, and active in defining this time in the world as an opportunity for positive change and healing and for the true formation of a culture of peace by giving thanks, spreading joy, sharing love, seeing miracles, discovering goodness, embracing kindness, practising patience, teaching moderation, encouraging laughter, celebrating diversity, showing compassion, turning from hatred, practising forgiveness, peacefully resolving conflicts, communicating non-violently, choosing happiness and enjoying life.
War is a disaster. Let’s build peace
The GCGI: The Path to peace, Justice, Security and Prosperity for All
Photo: Light at the end of the tunnel.- Ryan Engstrom
GCGI is our journey of hope and the sweet fruit of a labour of love. It is free to access, and it is ad-free too. We spend hundreds of hours, volunteering our labour and time, spreading the word about what is good and what matters most. If you think that's a worthy mission, as we do—one with powerful leverage to make the world a better place—then, please consider offering your moral and spiritual support by joining our circle of friends, spreading the word about the GCGI and forwarding the website to all those who may be interested.
Seeking Wisdom and Truth: A Pick from our GCGI Archive
A Non-Violent Path to Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding
The Economic Consequences of the Gulf War
A Must-read Books: The history they don’t want you to know
The spectacular defeat of western pseudo-values: The Afghan Debacle
This is the surest path to no more Afghan-like debacles
Dear President Obama, this is my plea to you: Be for the Common Good
The Age Of Perpetual Crisis: What are we to do in a world seemingly spinning out of our control?
Israel and Palestine: Can there be Peace?
The Road to Peace, Justice, Prosperity, Happiness and Well-being
Healing the world as if the web of life mattered: In Praise of Ancient Wisdom
‘Nature and Me’: Realigning and Reconnecting with Mother Nature’s Wisdom- A Five Part Guide
Rand’s Ugly and Values-less Philosophy of Selfishness
Kindness to Heal the World- Kindness to Make the World Great Again
‘I Have a Dream’: Yearning for Dr. King’s Interconnected World
Land As Our Teacher: Rhythms of Nature Ushering in a Better World
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Wisdom of the Mystics and Collective Healing
Meister Eckhart (1260-1327), a German friar, priest, mystic, philosopher, and renowned preacher, was also an administrator—prior, vicar, and provincial—for his Dominican Order. Like the Sufi poets and philosophers of love, Rumi and Hafez, he, too, speaks to so many and touches people’s hearts.
Only if we “become sweet lovers.” Only if we become mystic-warriors…
Photo: Alchetron
The four Es: we must awaken Deep Ecumenism, Deep Ecology, Deep Economics, and Deep Education.
‘Putting us in the hands of Meister Eckhart, Matthew Fox hopes that we will see all the wild possibilities in Deep Ecumenism (or Interspirituality), Deep Ecology, Deep Economics, and Deep Education. Similar to Thomas Merton, this mystical prophet is a lifeboat in treacherous waters, offering us passage to new lands.’-Book Review, Spirituality & Practice
‘ Once again, Matthew Fox has gifted the collective soul…If ever the world needs to break the boundaries of political and religious differences, it is now in this twenty-first century. With all of the violence we hear on the daily news, one can lose heart for any sign of hope. However, with this book, Matthew Fox gives us an intimation that hope in the future is not some idle passing thought. That it is even possible to have written this book is a reminder that such spiritual searching and the worldwide diversity that accompanies it is more prevalent than one would think. That, to this writer, is the core value of this book, namely, the reminder that we are all searching spiritually for the same thing. This is true whether we know it or not, accept it or not, or deny it or not. The spiritual struggle of Meister Eckhart to keep religious perspective from growing stale and lifeless could not go away in his life and time, nor will it go away today.’- Book Review, Literary Aficionado
‘Though he lived in the thirteenth century, Meister Eckhart's deeply ecumenical teachings were in many ways modern. He taught about what we call ecology, championed artistic creativity, and advocated for social, economic, and gender justice. All these elements have inspired spiritual maverick Matthew Fox and influenced his Creation Spirituality. Here, Fox creates metaphorical meetings between Eckhart and Teilhard de Chardin, Thich Nhat Hanh, Carl Jung, Black Elk, Rumi, Adrienne Rich, and other radical thinkers. The result is profoundly insightful, substantive, and inspiring.
…’Eckhart helps to carry us to this new level of evolution, this deeper expression of what it means to be human at this time in history. He asks that we live in depth, not superficially, whether we are talking about religion or education, economics or ecology. “Deep Ecology” is a phrase coined decades ago to name an ecological movement that was not merely about switching the hats of power but of going deeper into the land of the sacred, the place where in our deepest intuition (Eckhart would say, in the “spark of the soul” from which conscience is born) dwells the Divine and all the angels and spirit helpers who can assist us in this shamanistic vocation to heal so that the people may live. We need all the resources we possess as a species — science and technology along with our varied spiritual traditions.
'We need what I call in the conclusion the four Es: we must awaken Deep Ecumenism, Deep Ecology, Deep Economics, and Deep Education. Deep Ecumenism is in many ways the starting point, since without a spiritual depth and practice it is unimaginable that we will have the energy or the vision for the letting go and the birthing that survival will require. Eckhart is a leader like none other in Deep Ecumenism. Who else has worked out of the depth of his own tradition (his Christianity) and has been named a Hindu by Hindus; a Buddhist by Buddhists; a Sufi by Sufis; a depth psychologist who discovered the self by a depth psychologist; a shaman by students of shamanism?
'Not ecology as we know it; not education as we know it; not economics as we know it; not religion as we know it — none of these things is currently up to the task at hand. We need to go deeper. Just as Adrienne Rich and Meister Eckhart tell us, diving deep and also surfacing. Moving inward and outward, but always deeply. Deep where the joy resides; where the darkness, pain, and grief cry to us; where creativity is unearthed; where the passion for justice and compassion return again.
'We need ecological mystic-warriors, ecumenical mystic-warriors, educational mystic-warriors, and economic mystic-warriors. This is where Eckhart is leading us. Down and deep and dirty, in the sense that we are on new terrain, that there will be trial and error, but it is better to be in the dark than overly confident in a diminishing and damaging light.’-New World Library
Meister Eckhart: A Mystic Warrior for Our Times
Matthew Fox explains how the teachings of 13th century religious maverick Meister Eckhart offers insights into how we can heal today's most pressing issues: Watch the video HERE
A Further Reflection on Meister Eckhart, a Mystic for Our Time by
Prof. Joel Harrington/ Via Notre Dame Magazine
Meister Eckhart with a student, sculpture in Bad Wörishofen, Bavaria, Germany
PICTURE THIS…
‘The situation in the world looks bleak. Consumerism and materialism dominate all aspects of social life. Older people look with alarm at the crumbling of civic and religious institutions. Young people view the future with a sense of foreboding. Politicians appear self-interested, religious leaders hypocritical, business people ever more corrupt. Violence is escalating at home and abroad with no solution in sight. Alienation and disorientation is the general feeling among the people.
'You may think I was describing modern day America, but I want to welcome you to 14th-century Germany. As in our society, many people of the time, feeling battered by the world around them, sought spiritual wisdom and a more profound connection to the divine. In the early 1300s, this meant that a large number of practicing Christians, both laypeople and religious alike, were searching for a more direct and satisfying experience of God’s presence than what they found in their familiar institutional practices.’- Continue to read HERE
Our GCGI and the Healing Powers of the Four Es
Healing the world as if the web of life mattered
How to lead our lives, function and prosper in an increasingly polarised world?
Photo:Tree of Life Web of Life Art Print by Tree of Life Shop
Economics, Globalisation and the Common Good: A Lecture at London School of Economics
Oxford Theology Society Lecture: Values to Make the World Great Again
Composing a New Life: In Praise of Wisdom
Desperately seeking Sophia: The Wisdom of Nature
The Journey to Sophia: Education for Wisdom
Rand’s Ugly and Values-less Philosophy of Selfishness
Healing the world as if the web of life mattered: In Praise of Ancient Wisdom
Wisdom and the Well-Rounded Life: What Is a University?
The heart and the soul of education is wisdom
Nature and Me’: Realigning and Reconnecting with Mother Nature’s Wisdom- A Five Part Guide
Our Heritage is Arboreal and interwoven with the Life of Trees, OUR BEST ALLY FOR THE CLIMATE
‘Fix a broken economic system: It’s time to rethink that for the good of society’
Detaching Nature from Economics is ‘Burning the Library of Life’
Coronavirus and the New Tapestry of Life: The time is now to rediscover our true selves
The beauty of living simply: the forgotten wisdom of William Morris
Wouldn’t the world be a better place with a bit more kindness? Harnessing the Economics of Kindness
Land As Our Teacher: Rhythms of Nature Ushering in a Better World
On the 250th Birthday of William Wordsworth Let Nature be our Wisest Teacher
The prophetic legacy of John Ruskin: A Man ahead of his time
'Nature and Me': Educating the Heart and the Soul of Children to Build a Better World
GCGI is our journey of hope and the sweet fruit of a labour of love. It is free to access, and it is ad-free too. We spend hundreds of hours, volunteering our labour and time, spreading the word about what is good and what matters most. If you think that's a worthy mission, as we do—one with powerful leverage to make the world a better place—then, please consider offering your moral and spiritual support by joining our circle of friends, spreading the word about the GCGI and forwarding the website to all those who may be interested.
- Details
- Written by: Kamran Mofid
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How to lead our lives, function and prosper in an increasingly polarised world?
Finding the ‘Common Good’: Caring for each other and working together
As the readers of the GCGI.INFO are well aware, since our founding in 2002, in all these years, the heart and the soul of our project has been a better understanding of the concept of the common good and taking action in its interest to enable and empower ourselves to build a better and fairer world.
Working globally with many accross the world, I know this to be true for all our partners, they all understand their core public purpose —to serve the common good, which is why I get up each morning excited to support them in this essential work via all we do at our GCGI.
Needing a break from the political firestorm of late, I picked up a wonderful recent book by Robert Reich, “The Common Good” that focuses intelligently on hope for the future, desperately needed and hugely timeless, especially at these very difficult times.
I am particularly very pleased to see that Reich includes EDUCATION in his calculus, a subject very close to my own heart.
Reich is a professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, has served in three national administrations, and has written more than 15 books on social and public policy issues. In “The Common Good,” he argues that the nation would benefit greatly from reviving the conversation on what we see as the fundamental elements of the common good. But a central part of identifying, ensuring and sustaining the common good, he makes clear, is quality education for all.
The kind of education the nation serves up for children matters deeply, notes Reich so candidly:
“This sense of a common good also embraces public education — but not as a personal investment in getting a good job after one’s education is complete. Education is a public good that builds the capacity of a nation to wisely govern itself, and promotes equal opportunity. Democracy depends on citizens who are able to recognize the truth, analyze and weigh alternatives, and civilly debate their future, just as it depends on citizens who have an equal voice and equal stake in it. Without an educated populace, a common good cannot even be discerned. This is fundamental.”
Buy the book HERE
Read a Review by Michael J. Sandel HERE